Level 1: In Zora Hurston’s “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” she uses a reference to a metaphor for human identity and experiences, the brown bag of miscellany objects stands for the complexity and diversity of human identity and experiences through the acknowledgment that individual identities are not fixed or singular. Every individual is unique and consists of a blend of experiences, cultures, backgrounds, and experiences that make them who they are. This represents the brown bag, filled with all kinds of things that make up who you are. Just as a miscellany holds a diverse range of objects, each person's identity is a mix of different elements that cannot be neatly categorized or defined. This metaphor highlights the beauty and complexity …show more content…
The metaphor also shows that there is beauty and value in this diversity, we should embrace and celebrate our differences instead of trying to conform to a narrow definition of identity. Each of us has a unique story and perspective, and that is beautiful. I think that Hurston attempted to create several messages and none of us will ever know what is correct, we just have to choose what we think is right. Conveying her message without explicitly saying it, I believe that Zora is exemplifying the idea that human identity is complex and cannot be reduced to simplistic labels and categories. She also symbolized the uniqueness of the Black community. The brown bag contains miscellaneous items, and the Black community is made up of diverse individuals with different backgrounds. In addition, since the brown bag is “not a definite thing” speaks to the fluidity and complexity of identity, which shows how one’s experience and sense of self are constantly evolving and changing into …show more content…
Aside from slavery and segregation, racism has evolved into more covert and subtle forms, like biased hiring practices and unequal housing and education access. Aside from that, the ideologies and beliefs that justified racism in the Antebellum Period have evolved and continue to permeate society today, perpetuating racial inequality. During the Antebellum period, African Americans fought for emancipation, equal rights, and the abolition of slavery, and people like Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois helped lead these efforts. Writers like Alain Locke and Zora Neale Hurston emphasized the contributions of Black communities to the arts and culture, as well as discrimination and segregation. With the end of slavery and the beginning of the Jim Crow Era, systematic racism has taken on new forms of segregation and discriminatory legislation. Although white supremacy's methods have changed, the goal has not. Today, systemic racism is still a problem. The system is ingrained in institutions and systems, so Black people still get unequal treatment and opportunities. Racism persists, despite efforts to end it and dismantle it. Racial discrimination against marginalized communities is perpetuated by systematic racism. Race-based discrimination also hinders progress and social justice, since it limits opportunities for those who are unfairly targeted.
African-Americans in the 1920’s lived in a period of tension. No longer slaves, they were still not looked upon as equals by whites. However, movements such as the Harlem renaissance, as well as several African-American leaders who rose to power during this period, sought to bring the race to new heights. One of these leaders was W.E.B. DuBois, who believed that education was the solution to the race problem. The beliefs of W.E.B. DuBois, as influenced by his background, had a profound effect on his life work, including the organizations he was involved with and the type of people he attracted. His background strongly influenced the way he attacked the "Negro Problem." His influence continues to affect many people.
During the late 19th and early 20th century, racial injustice was very prominent and even wildly accepted in the South. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois were two of the most renowned “pioneers in the [search] for African-American equality in America” (Washington, DuBois, and the Black Future). Washington was “born a slave” who highly believed in the concept of “separate but equal,” meaning that “we can be as [distant] as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress” (Washington 1042). DuBois was a victim of many “racial problems before his years as a student” and disagreed with Washington’s point of view, which led
DuBois understands part of the problem. Blacks and whites have become intertwined in a vicious cycle. Slavery itself did not create, but enhanced negative attitudes towards blacks. In quite the same way, the institution of slavery greatly enhanced the way blacks felt about whites. White landowners were responsible for disenfranchisin...
Identity in James Baldwin’s “Stranger in the Village” and Zora Neale Hurston’s “How it Feels to be Colored Me”
In the essay “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” Zora Neale Hurston describes her life growing up in Florida and her racial identity as time goes on. Unlike many, she disassociates herself with “the sobbing school of Negrohood” that requires her to incessantly lay claim to past and present injustices and “whose feelings are all hurt by it”. Although she acknowledges times when she feels her racial difference, Hurston portray herself as “tragically colored.” Essentially, with her insistence that she is unhurt by the people treat her differently, Hurston’s narrative implies she is happier moving forward than complaining. Ironically, Hurston is empowered by her race and the double standard it imposes stating, “it is thrilling [that for every action,] I shall get twice as much praise or twice as much blame.”. Moreover, with her insistence that we are all equal under “The Great Stuffer of Bags,” she accepts every double standard and hardship as good. Hurston’s narrative of self empowerment moves and entertains the reader, while still drawing attention unjust treatment Hurston
How does Zora Neale Hurston’s race affect her approach to life? America has a long history of discriminating certain groups of people, particularly people of color. African-Americans were treated as slaves and was not seen as equal. Although slavery remained a history and was ultimately legally abolished, race still plays a big role in determining superiority today. Author of How it feels to be colored me, Zora Neale Hurston, describes her journey of racial recognition outside her world that reshaped her conception of racial identity that resulted in the prideful embrace of her African American heritage.
In ‘How it feels to be colored me’ Neale Hurston opens up to her pride and identity as an African-American. Hurston uses a wide variety of imagery, diction using figurative language freely with metaphors. Her tone is bordering controversial using local lingo.
Though her race was a victim of brutal, harsh discrimination, Hurston lived her life as an individual first, and a person of color second. In the narrative “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston, Hurston says, “The cosmic Zora emerges. I belong to no race nor time. I am the eternal feminine with its string of beads” (Hurston 3). She feels as though an extraordinary form of herself is brought out. This form is not bound by physical traits and is the everlasting woman with the cards she is dealt. The “cosmic Zora” emerging represents the empowered, fearless Zora from Orange County, Florida. When she says that she belongs “to no race nor time”, she means that her race and background do not define who she is as an individual. “The eternal feminine” symbolizes the
Hurston, Zora Neale. “How It Feels to Be Colored Me.” Writer’s Presence: A Pool of Readings. 5th ed. Ed. Robert Atawan and Donald McQuade. Boston:Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006. 166-170. Print
Both essays, How It Feels to Be Colored Me by Zora Neale Hurston and Of The Coming of John by W.E.B Du Bois, are two renowned essays that were written during a time of great discrimination against African Americans in the United States. Despite these two essays having different plots and a different set of characters, their experiences are quite similar in many ways. How It Feels to Be Colored Me has to do with the author’s experience as an African American in 20th century America. Zora Hurston was raised in an all black community in Florida, but then left her home at thirteen and moved into Jacksonville. At her new home, she then realized that this new city is a lot more diverse and it was at this time that she began to “feel her race.” At
Upon reading “How it feels to be colored” it is apparent that Hurston was fearless, optimistic and bold from her apparent attitude towards life. She says that she is not tragically colored, nor weep at the world for she is focused on sharpening her oyster knife ( Reading this, her proud and charismatic personality shines through as she boldly views the world differently from those that see color or race as opposed to who they are. Zora embraces her dark skin color and says she is proud to be a strong woman of African American descent. She does not allow the notion that her skin color and the reasoning she is from a different race affect her attitude towards life. She says that she is not concerned by
In “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” Hurston breaks from the tradition of her time by rejecting the idea that the African American people should be ashamed or saddened by the color of their skin. She tells other African Americans that they should embrace their color and be proud of who they are. She writes, “[A socialite]…has nothing on me. The cosmic Zora emerges,” and “I am the eternal feminine with its string of beads” (942-943). Whether she feels “colored” or not, she knows she is beautiful and of value. But Hurston writes about a time when she did not always know that she was considered colored.
In the essay “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” Zora Neale Hurston explores the concept of her racial identity and self-pride. Hurston begins her essay
Throughout history, African Americans have encountered an overwhelming amount of obstacles for justice and equality. You can see instances of these obstacles especially during the 1800’s where there were various forms of segregation and racism such as the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan terrorism, Jim- Crow laws, voting restrictions. These negative forces asserted by societal racism were present both pre and post slavery. Although blacks were often seen as being a core foundation for the creation of society and what it is today, they never were given credit for their work although forced. This was due to the various laws and social morals that were sustained for over 100 years throughout the United States. However, what the world didn’t know was that African Americans were a strong ethnic group and these oppressions and suffrage enabled African Americans for greatness. It forced African Americans to constantly have to explore alternative routes of intellectuality, autonomy and other opportunities to achieve the “American Dream” especially after the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were passed after the Civil War.
When we look at the issue of racism from a politically correct, nineties perspective, evidence of the oppression of black people may be obscured by the ways in which our society deals with the inequalities that still exist. There are no apparent laws that prohibit or limit opportunities for blacks in our society today, yet there is a sense that all things are not fair and equal. How can we acknowledge or just simply note how past ideologies are still perpetuated in our society today? We can examine conditions of the present day in consideration of events in the past, and draw correlations between old and modern modes of thinking. Attitudes of racism within the institutions of education, employment and government are less blatant now than in the day of Frederick Douglass, none the less, these attitudes prevail.